Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 297,756 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 26.1%, selling 297,756 shares during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.72% of the company worth $175.6 million.
• Darden Restaurants has authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.50 per share, reflecting a positive outlook from the company's leadership.
• In its latest quarterly earnings report, Darden surpassed expectations with $2.98 EPS and $3.27 billion in revenue, marking a 10.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 26.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 845,253 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 297,756 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.72% of Darden Restaurants worth $175,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 107.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,426 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 9,010 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 237.6% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 45,876 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,564,000 after buying an additional 32,286 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 4,974 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $18,664,000. Finally, Man Group plc grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 611.6% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 48,709 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,093,000 after acquiring an additional 41,864 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $211.90 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $207.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.62. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.98 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 20th. Stephens raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.81.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.

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